Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 107th Congress

Publication Date: October 2002

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Population and demographics

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Abstract:

Top immigration issues before the 107th Congress include the reorganization of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), a part of the Department of Justice (DOJ); admissions policy; and the eligibility of noncitizens for public assistance. Also pending are measures to enable unauthorized aliens to become legal permanent residents (LPRs) and to reform temporary guest worker programs.

On July 26, 2002, the House passed a bill to create a new homeland security department (H.R. 5005). Under the bill, INS’s enforcement functions would be transferred to the new department, while INS’s service functions would remain in DOJ in a new bureau. In September and early October, the Senate considered, but did not vote on, H.R. 5005. Amendments proposed in the Senate would create a directorate of immigration affairs within the new department with responsibility for immigration service and enforcement functions. The Administration has proposed transferring all of INS to a new homeland security department under a border and transportation security division.

Admissions policy, particularly responsibility for issuing visas, is a key issue in discussions about establishing a homeland security department. The State Department currently has authority over visa issuances. Under H.R. 5005, as passed by the House, and the Lieberman substitute amendment to H.R. 5005, the homeland security department and the State Department would each have some responsibilities for visa issuances.

Congress is addressing noncitizen eligibility for public assistance in the context of bills to reauthorize federal public benefit programs. The “farm bill” (P.L. 107-171) expands eligibility for food stamps for certain classes of LPRs. H.R. 4737 would reauthorize Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The House-passed version would not change the eligibility rules for noncitizens. The substitute version of H.R. 4737 reported by the Senate Finance Committee, however, would give states the option to use TANF funds to assist all LPRs. The reauthorization of the Medicaid program is the subject of separate legislation.

The 107th Congress also has considered legislation (H.R. 1885) to enable certain unauthorized aliens in the United States to adjust to LPR status. This legislation would extend a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act — §245(i) — that currently covers illegal aliens whose sponsors filed petitions or applications on their behalf by April 30, 2001. H.R. 1885 has been passed in different forms by the House and Senate. Other pending bills would establish mechanisms to allow particular groups of unauthorized aliens — such as agricultural workers and students — to become LPRs.

Temporary guest worker programs are also the subject of pending bills. Among these bills are measures that would make significant changes to the H-2A program for foreign agricultural workers and the H-1C program for foreign nurses.

Congress has enacted various pieces of immigration-related legislation to date. In addition to the farm bill mentioned above, the most significant of these measures address immigration-related counterterrorism and security issues. Both the USA PATRIOT Act (P.L. 107-56) and the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act (P.L. 107-173) contain provisions on border security, admissions policy, and foreign students.